The New Minion Bomber

Queto

Queto

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jun 2005

Belgium

Dynasty Warriors [DW]

A/W

First of all, I love this build! I'm finally starting to know where my minions come from, and if I know that, I can Nova them both 95% of the time. I'm still waiting to cap Flesh Golem, then the real fun begins

But you are saying that there would also be a Necro-main MM. I think in many areas there are too few corpses for 2 undead summoners...

trankle

trankle

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

BloodBath & Beyond

Rt/

Another spell that fits in nicely here is Well of Suffering. It can replace or coexist with Rotting Flesh. I find it's a nice spell to use for my first corpse, to really get the ball rolling.

At 12 DM, it's -5 degen for 26 seconds. It's better than Rotting Flesh in areas like Nahpui Quarter - where your fleshy enemies are mixed in with non-fleshies, who are unaffected by disease. It does, of course, use a corpse, and it doesn't move with a foe, like disease does, but I still find it valuable if used carefully in my Minion Bomber build.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Geishe: Nobody likes to be misunderstood, least of all me. However, I did find it rather coincidential that your declaration that you didn't like to be misunderstood echoed what Spindraft said. Some people just handle it better, I guess. Also: Could you link what you said over in GWonline for the rest of us? Thank ya muchly!

Queto: Wow, 95%?! You're better than me, then! XD I'm pretty happy when I get it above 50%. As for your comment about MMs... Been to Vizunah Square Mission yet? One of my friends was laughing about one time when his group of an MM and a bomber met up with the other side who had two bombers. They still couldn't use up all the corpses. Of course, that could be just an indication that there's just mobs of enemies in that mission... Of course, that would not be a good area to bring Blood of the Master... XDDD
But I agree. In most areas, you're gonna only want to stick with you as the MM, and advertise so.

Interestingly enough, my friend gave me an interesting bit of analysis on the difference between necros and Rit MMs. Apparently, Necro-mains are more damage-oriented, and Rits are more about tanking. It makes sense, actually. Higher level minions plus minion heals does tend to favor more damage output, and conversely, Spawning Power does give your minions more health. Honestly though, most groups won't know the difference. They just want an MM. ^^;


--Well: 15 E, 2 Cast, 10 recharge
Swarm: 10 E, 3 Cast, 3 recharge.

Trankle: Well of Suffering... Not a bad idea, not bad at all. However, precisely for the reasons you mentioned, I (personally) don't use the skill. For my first corpse, I like to Animate. For non-fleshy enemies, I like to slot in Deathly Swarm instead. It moves, there's no chance it can get confused with Well of Blood, and it doesn't use up a corpse. Suffering is a 'lonely' skill, as none of the other skills in your slot interact with it, with the exception of Animate, if the mobs stay within it's radius. However, since it works for you, and it takes up one of the 'optional slots' in the build, I congratulate you on your creativity. *Goes to edit guide.*

trankle

trankle

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

BloodBath & Beyond

Rt/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bargamer
Trankle: Well of Suffering... Not a bad idea, not bad at all. However, precisely for the reasons you mentioned, I (personally) don't use the skill. For my first corpse, I like to Animate. For non-fleshy enemies, I like to slot in Deathly Swarm instead. It moves, there's no chance it can get confused with Well of Blood, and it doesn't use up a corpse. Suffering is a 'lonely' skill, as none of the other skills in your slot interact with it, with the exception of Animate, if the mobs stay within it's radius. However, since it works for you, and it takes up one of the 'optional slots' in the build, I congratulate you on your creativity. *Goes to edit guide.* Actually, I bring Swarm as well...because I haven't gotten around to capping Golem yet. The "bring your own corpse" aspect of Golem does sound nice, so when I cap that, I'll probably choose between RF and WoS for my "degen" slot, based on the area.

Eragon Dragonslayer

Eragon Dragonslayer

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Right Behind You

The Raven Evolution [wvw]

A/

great guide i love this guide very much =D

.neuronster.

.neuronster.

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2006

My house.

Grenth's Rejects [GR]

E/Mo

I love you, man. <3

Kyle

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

Legends Of Teh Industry [XXX]

Cant wait to try this.

And for targeting minions it could be very simple. If we hold ctrl we can see all enemies. If we hold alt we can see npcs and players. Why not make a key that lets you see only minions. How hard would that be. They could take the enemy or npc code and change the key and say minons. done deal.

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

I have a build that builds on this with the nightfall skills.
It works quite a bit better.
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Rt/N_Sp...s_Gift_Minions
Try that

whobitz

whobitz

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2006

Mo/

Hooray for ressurecting threads.

Anyway, Coloneh, now that NF is out, your version will probably be pretty much a standard minion bomber, maybe with a little tweaking. JB just synergizes so well with a build that focuses on killing minions. I do have one question since I haven't brought my MM to Elona yet...do Explosive Growth and boon trigger when a minion dies under JB and the jagged horror is made?

Dead_Metal_Zero

Dead_Metal_Zero

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Biscuit of Dewm [MEEP]

W/

Just so it's known, I tested to see if explosive growth triggers when a dying shambling spawns a jagged. It does, meaning each death nova'd shambling can explode for nearly 150 dmg and you're still left with a minion that can bleed out whats left of enemies health.

Also, boon of creation triggers when the jagged spawns too giving you soul-reaping-style energy gain.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Poor me, I got absorbed into WoW. I'm going to resist the urge to compare and contrast that game with GW, but suffice it to say, they are quite different, but both awesome in their ways.

First things first, give yourselves a round of applause for contributing to the Three Million copies of GW sold. Secondly, I noticed that the September 14th update gave us a small slap on the wrist for Boon of Creation. We now ALMOST regain all our energy back.

Thirdly, and this is the part that I borrowed heavily from GuildWiki, (which I saw before I saw Coloneh's post/build) but I included here for the sake of completion: Nightfall gave us the Elite skill option of Jagged Bones instead of Flesh Golem. This means that when a minion goes boom, it triggers Explosive Growth/Boon of Creation again and the resultant Jagged Horror is itself a target for Jagged Bones. Furthermore, Jagged Bones doesn't need to be targetted, instead, it's auto-casted on the nearest minion without JB. This is doable even in levels that have few exploitable corpses. We have just achieved infinite combo status.

Small note: We do not recommend taking another Nightfall Enchantment "Spirit's Gift," as why would we ever want our minions to regain some small health? We want them to go boom. Sure, our OTHER party members will appreciate it, but eh, who cares about THEM? XD

Until I buy Nightfall for myself, I would appreciate it if you guys tested this out, as well as what happens if you aggressively use the Minion Cap that I mentioned in the last part of my guide. Good luck, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years to all!

PS: Whobitz: Yes, it does. Go nuts.

Colon's Fury

Colon's Fury

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2006

Rt/

I've just started to bring my rit through nightfall, and have restarted using the minion bomber build (I stopped using it when I got deep into factions and when I was over in tyria). I totally forgot how much fun blowing up minions was! And I also considered using Jagged Bones (when I get it) instead of mister Golem, and knowing the fact that it retriggers boon and growth is good to know...the fact that it auto targets the nearest non-jagged'd minion is even better. I can pretty easily get death novas up on all my minions, but having to get another enchant up on all of them by clicking on each on would have been rough...especially because you wouldn't have been able to tell which had jagged on them if they all had nova. Can't wait to cap Jagged!

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

I take it back: Spirit's Gift, Reclaim Essence, and Putrid Flesh are awesome together. Healing your own minions is beneficial when you've got a no-fail Big Red Button in Reclaim Essence, and with the new henchmen, making sure they stay un-diseased with Spirit's Gift is even better. I like the Reclaim Essence build better than the Jagged Horrors/SOC variant mostly because me and Signet of Creation never got along.

So here's what's gonna happen. For all you Factions Minion Bombers who are porting over to Nightfall, here's how it's gonna break down. Once you cap Reclaim Essence, use that build until you cap Jagged Bones. Unless you REALLY like Flesh Golem, and expect not to see any Enchantment-strippers or other Mesmers. For PVE, use my skill template with the single-swap of Golem for Jagged Bones. If you're in PVP, use Signet of Creation AND Jagged Bones. Everyone is happy.

But just to be fair, let's compare and contrast all of them. The real difference between them all is: What is the kill condition, when does the degen start, and where is your energy?

Factions
Original Build: Link on 1st page
You've got good AOE damage upon minion creation and destruction, disease-degen at the beginning and throughout the fight and poison-degen upon minion death, and steady melee damage with Bone Minions and Golem. At the next fight, you will have a minimum of two Bone minions, and a max of 7 plus Golem, or 8 Bone minions. With Taste of Death, you will never, EVER, die. Health gain from Boon is largely ignored in PVE, might save your life in PVP. Rare energy management issues. Minions die either through battle or TOD.

Signet of Creation Variant: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build:R...osive_Creation
MASSIVE Nova AOE/Spike Damage, possibility of death because of no Taste of Death, and no Animates while Signet is active. Assuming you killed them all, Poison and Disease degen completely ignored, little steady melee damage. At the end of the fight, you have however many minions you Animated, and no Henchies. If you didn't kill them all, degen SHOULD kill them all while you frantically Animate. At end of fight, use Blood of the Master to keep your minions alive while you rez your Henchies and between battles. At next fight, you have all minions, all Hencies, and no-so-great health. Frequent energy management and dying issues. Minions die through SOC.


Nightfall

Pre-Reclaim/Jagged
This is what you have when you just ported over. Firstly, go to the skill trainers and get Spirit's Gift and Putrid Flesh. Your Elite is Flesh Golem.

Flesh Golem/Reclaim Essence
You'll have this build if you did Factions and capped Reclaim Essence. Swap out Taste of Death or Rotting Flesh for the Capture Signet. Enjoy it while you can.

Reclaim Essence Build: http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build:Rt/N_Reclaim_Essence
You've got good AOE damage upon minion creation and destruction, combined poison/disease degen on minion death via Reclaim and only Poison-degen if no Reclaim, and spotty melee damage with Bone Minions. At the next fight, you will have >2 minions AND all your henchmen. With Boon of Creation and Spirit's Gift, you have to be in the thick of combat to stay alive. Makes me nervous, it does. No Energy management issues, even with Enchantment-stripping or other Mesmer tricks. Minions MUST die through Reclaim or Putrid Flesh, and shouldn't at any other time. Lots of targeting skill needed. Optional slot should reflect the enviroment: Damage skill for easy areas, Taste of Death for difficult areas, Flesh of My Flesh for impossible areas. Unknown death/PVE/PVP stats.

Reclaim Essence/Jagged Bones
You'll have this build when you've successfully capped Jagged Bones. Swap out your rez for the Capture Signet. Enjoy it while you can.

Jagged Bones Build Reclaim build, swap out Reclaim for Jagged Bones.
You've got good AOE damage upon Bone Minion creation and GREAT on destruction(which is actually creation again), disease and poison degen upon minion death, and steady melee damage with Bone Minions at the beginning of the first fight, and steady melee damage/Bleeding degen with Jagged Horrors at the end. At the next fight, you will have your max of 8 Horrors AND Henchies. Boon and Spirit's Gift keeps you and them alive, especially with Jagged Bones spawning healing you. If any Henchies die, let your two monks take care of it. Bone Minions WITH JAGGED BONES die through Putrid Flesh, Jagged Horrors never actually die.

Jagged Bones/SOC Variant(PVP) Jagged Bones Build, swap Flesh of my Flesh for SOC.
MASSIVE Nova AOE/Spike Damage, possibility of dying because of no Taste of Death and no Animates while Signet is active. Assuming you killed them all, Poison degen completely ignored, little steady melee damage. At the end of the Signet, you have a possible 7 Jagged Horrors, and no Henchies. If you didn't kill them all, immediate Explosive Growth AOE and Poison degen SHOULD kill them all. If they're STILL not down, follow the usual Jagged Bones strategy of Jagged Bones-Nova-Putrid. If even THEN... You're probably facing a boss. At next fight, you have all minions. Frequent energy management issues. Bone Minions/Jagged Horrors die through SOC/Putrid Flesh.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Bought Nightfall for myself the other day, and wow, Heroes pwn. Olias, especially. (Except when he ninjas one of my corpses.)

Ok, so one major disappointment was that I couldn't make a Rit for Nightfall, so boohoo, I ported my old one over. Since this IS our Factions char, there's no reason not to get the quest "Gain Zenmai" too. Both the quest to port over and get the Zenmai Hero can be obtained from Imperial Guardsman Linro in Kaineng Center, near the Bejunkan Pier portal. Zenmai is an lvl 15 Assassin, but a few runs through Vizunah Square will fix that. For those of you with Prophesies too, get Olias, a Necro. I made Olias into a traditional MM with Flesh Golem, Fiends, and Vamps. Because we're selfish, I also put Death Nova into his Slot 1. XD (The AI figures out how to use skills based on where they are on their skill bar, with Slot 1 used the most, and 8 the least.)

Starting out, you're gonna breeze through the early missions until you get to a dialogue where you have to choose between Sousuke the Fire Nuker and Jin the Ranger. I picked Sousuke, dropped his Air Magic, and made him into a Ele/Mes with some Glyphs. For my Heroes, I usually take some combination of: Dunkoro the Healer Monk, Tah the Prot Monk, Olias the MM, Koss the Warrior, and Sousuke the Nuker. For Henchies: Eve the Blood Ritual, Devona the Other Warrior, Cynn the More Nuking, Professor Gai the Spirit Rit, Sologon the Monk-Wannabe, and Gehraz the Dervish.

Sologon I use as a backup tank, and Gehraz should be a better Assassin, since his skills do more if I'm spreading lots of Conditions. Dropping Death Nova on him is also never a bad thing, since it's said that he tends to use Signet of Pious Light to remove it and self-heal. And well, anything that goes into melee with a Nova on them...

If you take a Monk Hero who's focused on Healing Prayers, give them Dwayna's Sorrow, for party heals every time an ally dies. Use it from the Hero Control Panel right before battle, after you've Nova-ed up. You can access the Hero Control Panel by clicking the button next to their name in your Party panel. Ranger spirits such as Winnowing, Predatory Season, and Quickening Zephyr, work well, Edge of Extinction does not. Paragon Shouts should also work well: Fall Back, Stand Your Ground, and Go For the Eyes!, among others.

When you accept rewards for a quest, make sure to swap out Heroes that are already lvl 20 for those that you haven't bothered to level up or haven't gotten a chance to level. No sense in wasting solid XP.

When you get to Venta Cemetery, your Allies include 8 Monks, so drop the Monk Heroes and load up on the AOE and damage. With Olias, both Nukers, both Warriors, and 8 Monks, I "Mastered" Venta all by myself.

So far I'm pretty darn happy with all the Heroes except for Zenmai and Olias. I don't know whether I just gave Zenmai the wrong build or what, but she keeps dying way too often. Olias, I need to bump down his Animates, as he keeps stealing my corpses. (I don't have the time to manage both mine and Olias's Animates in battle via the Skill screen.) Well, that's all for now. Next stop, Zhed the Horsey!

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build_t...eclaim_Essence

Coloneh, Professional Troll, has gone and declared war. Just because his crappy build got merged and deleted, he wants to take out the Reclaim Essence build as well. Since I'm intelligent enough to realize that we're never going to agree, I'm going to put the vote to the people. Everyone that has read/played this build, go over to the above link and vote either yay or nay for merging Reclaim Essence with Explosive Growth. Because I'm all for informed voting, go ahead and track how Coloneh keeps hopping back and forth between the Talk pages of Explosive Creation and Reclaim Essence.

I vote "no merge." Now I'm asking you guys to vote. On the same note, I don't want to hear about anyone harassing this guy online. Give trolls attention, and they still win. (FYI, Epinephrine is how you SHOULD vote, whether yay or nay. He raises a valid point. We can still disagree, but there's no need to disrespect.)

Epinephrine

Epinephrine

Master of Beasts

Join Date: Mar 2005

Ottawa, Canada

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

Many posters are voting to merge, I am one of them. Before the merge vote was even up people were saying to merge it. It's the same concept, just a variant.

I would encourage voting to merge, and keep wiki less cluttered - not only that, it makes a central repository for variants of the build - something that is beneficial for any Rit looking for Rit/N minion master information.

Keeping it separate opposes the point of the wiki - to serve as a resource. It is a better resource with these build ideas condensed into a *good* page on minion mastery as a ritualist than to have them distributed - presenting several variants together gives a new player a better idea of what can work, and access to more builds in case they prefer one to another. Glad you see that I wasn't antagonistic - I just feel that it belongs together.

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bargamer
Coloneh, Professional Troll yeah thanks. im glad i happened across this page. so you got tired of me being right and decided to come on a different site and flame me? impressive. *claps*
your ridiculous.



PS: just out of curiosity, how was the build i posted crappy since it was basically the same as the one you are trying so desperately to protect.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Coloneh, buddy, I've been talking to people from your Alliance, they told me that you have trolling tendencies. Secondly, you keep asking again and again the same question, but somehow fail to acknowledge what people keep telling you, over and over. Your build got deleted because obviously it was a blatant ripoff, had unnecessary skills, was poorly written, and you pretty much folded when people started discussing the option of merging. Reclaim Essence was better written, and it dealt with the Energy Management issues that has started cropping up ever since Boon got the mini-nerf. Reclaim Essence is also un-affected by Enchantment Stripping, which is when you REALLY need it. Thirdly, Reclaim Essence and Jagged Bones are VERY DIFFERENT ELITES. Their foci are entirely different. Trying to compare the two is like comparing apples and oranges.

Finally, if one mild derogatory (in this case, descriptive) phrase is called "flaming," I'd hate to see how you react to some of the REALLY foul-mouthed people you can meet online. And for Microsoft Wordperfect's sake, get a spell/grammar -checker. Desperate? You're the one who's coming over to MY thread and trying to start something.

In fact, if everyone who saw my guide decided that merging was for the best, I'd accept it and move on. All it would trouble me is the removal/edit of another link, and I'd keep playing the way I want, at least until the next expansion comes out.

Epinephrine: See, that's what I'm talking about, right there. Why can't everyone post like you? (sigh) But back on subject: I've heard the argument before, but in order to include the Reclaim Essence build as a variant of the Explosive Creation build, as presented, you literally have to switch out four whole skills: Elite for Elite, Rotting Flesh for Putrid Flesh, BotM for Spirit's Gift, and SoC for the optional slot, which IMO is either Deathly Swarm or some other damage spell, Taste of Death for self-heals, Cap Sig, or Rez Sig. To me, four skills is the cut-off point.

Thus, I felt that skill switching suggestions and a link to the Reclaim Essence build was sufficient to keep things together, while establishing them as different builds. It's in the wrong section, but Azaya's vote in Reclaim's Rate-A-Build section was a first-hand account on how different they felt, as I explained briefly earlier. Reclaim gives you unshakable Energy stability while Jagged Bones gives you "infinite combo" status, at the risk of running out of Energy.

- Gobby -

- Gobby -

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2006

The Neutral Selection [TNS]

Well im gona do this build but..... but.......can u have 10 minions max? and would blood of the master and vertaris work well? with it? like a proper minions master...and as arkantos said Enchatment remover = owned....HELP ME!

Epinephrine

Epinephrine

Master of Beasts

Join Date: Mar 2005

Ottawa, Canada

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bargamer
I've heard the argument before, but in order to include the Reclaim Essence build as a variant of the Explosive Creation build, as presented, you literally have to switch out four whole skills: Elite for Elite, Rotting Flesh for Putrid Flesh, BotM for Spirit's Gift, and SoC for the optional slot, which IMO is either Deathly Swarm or some other damage spell, Taste of Death for self-heals, Cap Sig, or Rez Sig. To me, four skills is the cut-off point. I don't draw lines in terms of amount of variation in skills, but rather in terms of information management.

Surely, you will admit that a full article on "Ritualist minion mastery", presenting the variants, the playstyles, and offering comparisons between them, including when one or another may be preferable is better than a few scattered build pages? I would have no problem keeping separate build pages for each one, consisting of a re-direct for example to the approriate section of a minion master guide, but really the subject is rich enough and well enough understood for a good guide, and that to me seems the ideal solution. A redirect to a section would suffice I think, presenting a way to locate it without searching for a guide, while directing players to a more complete resource.

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by - Gobby -
Well im gona do this build but..... but.......can u have 10 minions max? and would blood of the master and vertaris work well? with it? like a proper minions master...and as arkantos said Enchatment remover = owned....HELP ME! 8 minions max on a ritualist.
you could you blood of the master, but if you take jagged bones you can maintain an army without killing yourself.
and enchantment removal isnt that bad, just slow down on your summoning until you can recast boon of creation.

- Gobby -

- Gobby -

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2006

The Neutral Selection [TNS]

Ive just thought of sumthing? because bone minions raise 2 from 1 body does the 2 bone minions count as 1 Minion?

Arkantos

Arkantos

The Greatest

Join Date: Feb 2006

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by - Gobby -
Ive just thought of sumthing? because bone minions raise 2 from 1 body does the 2 bone minions count as 1 Minion? No, the 2 bone minions count as 2.

- Gobby -

- Gobby -

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2006

The Neutral Selection [TNS]

aww that sucks hehe so u get 1 Flesh golem and 7 low lvl minions?

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

any other death magic or spawning elite > Flesh golem

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by Epinephrine
I don't draw lines in terms of amount of variation in skills, but rather in terms of information management.

Surely, you will admit that a full article on "Ritualist minion mastery", presenting the variants, the playstyles, and offering comparisons between them, including when one or another may be preferable is better than a few scattered build pages? I would have no problem keeping separate build pages for each one, consisting of a re-direct for example to the approriate section of a minion master guide, but really the subject is rich enough and well enough understood for a good guide, and that to me seems the ideal solution. A redirect to a section would suffice I think, presenting a way to locate it without searching for a guide, while directing players to a more complete resource. Information management instead of skill variation... Oddly enough, one of my friends said the same thing, the other day. Reclaim Essence is not that great in and of itself. It's your safety net against enchantment strippers and Energy-drainers. Bring it when you need it. But Jagged Bones IS an active involvement of your resources, whether energy, time, or "information management". Furthermore, a Ritualist MM guide would be lost on most people, especially since between the Explosive Creation pages and the "General Minion Mastery" guide, the wiki already strives to achieve the inclusion principle. If we split the Minion Mastery Guide, one for Necros and one for Rits, it would anger the Necro-main Minion Bombers. (Yes, they exist.) But trying to shove both professions and all their variations into one guide would be a literal nightmare.

Talking with one of my friends (same one) made me think again about the uselessness of the Minion Cap icon. (See rant on page 3.) If you implemented my suggestions, Ritualists would benefit more than Necro-mains, but hey, we WORKED for our place in line. Honestly speaking, give any MM the choice of 50 Animates to play with OR the removal of the Minion Cap, and they would, hands down, still choose to have 50 to 70+ of Bone Horrors and Fiends.

Needless to say, having 50 different kinds of minions running around the map would be like... a WoW PVP Battleground.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

So I've capped Reclaim and Jagged Bones, finally. And I must say, it's very, very, broken. I've updated the Equipment, Starting Out in Factions, and Notes. I also added some more sections for Nightfall: Suggested Heroes/Henchies and Starting, Ending a Battle in Nightfall, and The Necro Hero. People will come to appreciate Olias and Master of Whispers more in PVE, I'm pretty sure.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

I finally got Armind's Focus after about a week or so of farming Bahdok Caverns. Also, the idea occured to me of giving MOW (Master of Whispers, or whoever your Necro Hero is) Animate Shambling Horrors, for corpse-heavy areas. A friend of mine also rebuilt my Monk Heroes, which will come in handy, but took away Dwayna's Sorrow, which I will be sad about. Ah, well. Updated my weapons accordingly.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Killed Abaddon, and WTF. First attempt, 14 minutes. He was easier than Shiro, by FAR. Yes, that traitor is BACK, and this time, he's selling out the whole dimension, and not just his Emperor. He's more annoying this time around, too. I guess we didn't beat his face far enough into the back of his skull in Factions.

Anyways, for the last two missions, it's a sad truth that you're likely only going to beat them in one of two ways: Henching it yourself or making a Resto Rit build. I went with the second option, and took: Attuned was Songkai, Flesh/Flesh, Recuperation, Ghostly Haste, Soothing Memories, Spirit Light, Mend Body and Soul, and Ghostmirror Light. Feel free to use variations.

Torment is a pain in the ass. Level 28 mobs, patrols of 5+ each, Mesmers and Nukers galore, Titans don't leave exploitable corpses, and Enviromental Effects. And for a final reward, you get a crappy, UGLY green, that's barely different (+5 Energy) from the crap you get from the other 20 Weapons NPCs throughout the game, and NO INSCRIPTION SLOT?? Oh, and halfway inside the area, the Heroes you didn't get the first time around. And they're not even lvl 20. Feel free to level them up, go do the other missions, explore, or get drunk. Get some Titles or something. Go PVP, if you want. Hero Battles, perhaps? If you didn't get enough Torment, there is the Realm of Anguish, that is said to be harder than the Prophesies end-end-game. Um, no thanks. We already GOT a Ritualist Hero, it's called "The One We're F-ing Playing." Non-Rits would probably think that Razah was lame-sauce anyways. If you want to set yourself up for tons of farming for useless greens and gems that probably won't pan out, Realm of Anguish is for you.

If you feel you must, make a new character, strip your Heroes all over again, and start over anew. Maybe a Dervish or Paragon, if you feel like checking out Nightfall from an original point of view. Keep in mind that you pretty much have to buy your armor from scratch, especially the insignia.

PS: Oh yeah, got bored of the 3X Farming Weekend and traded some Peppermint CCs for Ghial's Staff. Yummy. Next stop, The Nightbringer! Jagged Bones got a heavier-than-deserved nerf, IMO. Granted, the game is chock-ful of HSR weapons, and those PVPers probably screwed it up for the rest of us. To a Minion Bomber, keep around a spare wand that has HCT/HSR (Death 20%) and you should be fine. No idea on whether you can put mods and inscriptions on the Nightfall reward green, but I know you could with the reward you got from Factions. It's how I got my Poisonous Katana of Enchanting. Therefore, it is with the utmost confidence, that with the nerf of the one Elite that had everyone excited, that I state that "Factions > Nightfall." GG, Anet.

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bargamer
No idea on whether you can put mods and inscriptions on the Nightfall reward green, but I know you could with the reward you got from Factions. It's how I got my Poisonous Katana of Enchanting. Therefore, it is with the utmost confidence, that with the nerf of the one Elite that had everyone excited, that I state that "Factions > Nightfall." GG, Anet. You couldn't mod factions greens either (or any green for that matter). You must be thinking about the Crafter weapons that you can get when you beat factions.

Also, my jagged bones MM hero is still pretty good after the nerf. It seems that they're much weaker in pvp, but they still do well in pve.

UnMonoLoco

UnMonoLoco

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Feb 2007

Rt/

I had fun and success doing the one with Shiro and the Lich as a offensive spirit spammer. Though hero/henched it with a friend, and that forgotten staff for communing is pretty sweet to. ^^

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Joe: that was what I meant. Apologies for the confusion. Yeah, Necros have it so much better than Rits. We get no love. T_T

Un: Yum, yum, spirit spamming. Glad to hear that it can be done. However, I still think that the Nightfall rewards are lame-sauce, especially since you only get +5 Energy and HSR. HSR would be useful for a Spirit Spammer, but most Minion Bombers like HCT, (as this IS the guide for,) thus the anger and frustration. If all the Nightfall rewards had a Inscription slot instead (or in addition,) it wouldn't be so bad. But to get one of those, you have to wait until Domain of Anguish. No thanks. XP The best solution would be allowing you to customize your reward, like in a PVP panel. I mean, most people only get one Book of Secrets, and you just slogged through Torment to get it. Shouldn't the reward be representative of the difficulty?

Anyways, I've got the suspicion that about 2 months after the Christmas season, they're really piling on the events. Could it be that Anet is trying to drum up support after putting us through so much Torment? If they need suggestions, I got a thread-ful, starting with making the Minion Cap button freaking USEFUL, and not just a "Ctrl-click to spam," and ending with making Resto Rits heal LOTS MORE than Monks, especially since we have to deal with "Jump through this hoop first" to do the same healing, AND we don't get Divine Favor.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Copy and pasted the build compare-and-contrasts onto the first post, C&Ped THAT whole mess to the Rit build directory, and bumping this thread. I'm still tempted to make a joke article about minions, I mean, give Anet something to do instead of these weekend circuses. Not that I don't appreciate them, but hey. Is it honestly that hard/bad to give MMs a leg up? Bah, whatever, I'm biased.

If they don't do something soon to attract back the weekday players, I'm gonna be spending that time on LOTR Online, for real. I'm not joking, here. I got in the Stress Test, that -bleet- is the BOMB. Kind of a farm-fest, though. But that's ok. Save up some money, get a new graphics card, stand by for serious solo-farming, with none of the risks. (For those of you who got a new card for NWN2, you're straight. We're talking about my old-arse GeForce 5700LE. I mean, dang. I'm gonna bury the geezer when I upgrade.)

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Bumping this guide back to the top since Anet's apparent opinion that the SR nerf is not going to change. Let's see if I can't get ANOTHER 10K views.

Valkyries

Valkyries

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2006

AoM

Anyone who has tried this build SHOULD love it!

I just gave it a go today and WOW... I don't think I've ever had as much fun. Its so deadly. There were quests Icould never do on my own and with this build I had no issues. With so many minions coming up and down, the damage burst you get is amazing.

Nice job, Ill be playing this one for a while.

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Wiki Builds Directory is going, might as well take the links out now. Also editted to adjust for Jagged Bones and SR nerf. Added Rit Hero section. Pondered adding the suggestion to make a pseudo-CoS Spike team from this, and chose not to add it to the guide until further testing. No idea if CoS considers minions as allies, nor how effective it would be. Essentially, have MoW and Olias provide the minions, and Razah and yourself as the CoS Spikers. Maybe it would work better in Factions, where you have Master Togo running around. Maybe it work better with 2 players. Any volunteers?

Carboplatin

Carboplatin

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

[PIG]

W/A

i am not bashing this build in anyway, but until they implement a minion window in the UI i find this to be way to tedious.

the damage is good, the build is good, but just too much work

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

[silly]OH, Dwayna FORBID that we have to WORK for anything. Wouldn't that just SUCK?![/silly] No, no, I kid. Well, that's one vote of support for that keybind-(or Click-Minion-Cap-Icon)-Select-Next-Minion. Maybe if this is a success, I can also push through my customized RPG-style "Make Your Own Minion" option. Tweak their levels, conditions, damage type, Energy cost, Casting Time, Recharge Time, anything. But it'll never happen. *Sigh.*

ScorpiusX

ScorpiusX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Hitching a ride on the road to nowhere a.k.a. Yorkshire, England

Children of Melandru [HOPE]

Hey Bargamer very nice work with this here build. Just a pity I have loads of trouble with selecting minions .

However I did try this with Razah and he is pretty awesome using it, good enough so that a) I'm not going to run this myself (until theres an easier way of selecting minions) b) Olias and Master of Whispers can now Curse and spit Blood as much as they want they'll never Minion Bomb or MM again. On another note though if Razah casts death nova on me one more time while I'm at full health he's gonna feel my boot where the sun don't shine

ScorpiusX

Bargamer

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2006

Rt/N

Did a little experimentation with Razah in Jennur's Horde, and I found that he's pretty bad with maintaining his Enchants. MoW and Dark Bond has the same problem. Never found Death Nova on me, though. Maybe his AI is just a bit wierd? I mean, if he was a REAL person, he should be learning from me, like his introduction says he would be doing. Boon, THEN Animate, you dolt!

Added a few lines to the Razah section, and added a new section about the MM Heroes in general.